This invention relates to a telephone call distributor and more particularly to an improved call distributor and holding system which is adapted to permit one or more operators to efficiently service a large number of callers.
Telephone call distributors and queueing systems are routinely used to enable operating personnel to better service a large number of callers. Such systems generally include means for answering a ringing call and delivering a prerecorded message to the caller. In that these systems can be used to answer and establish preliminary contact with a large number of callers, they increase the number of callers who can be served at any one time, and thereby reduce the number who call only to find lines being unanswered.
One type of commonly used call distributor is designed to answer a ringing call, deliver a prerecorded message which requests the caller to wait until an operator is available, and then places the caller in a queue on hold. When an operator becomes available the call is intercepted and the caller put in live contact with an operator. Such call distributors do not interrogate the caller, and the operator must question the caller in live conversation in order to extract all information necessary to service the call. For instance, a caller who is seeking to place a sales order and obtain pricing information must be questioned by the operator as to the order and the pricing information request. The call distributor does not reduce the amount of time that is required for the operator to service a call. Instead, it merely holds waiting callers until an operator is available. Caller waiting periods may become excessively long during peak load periods, with resulting caller frustration and alienation.
A second type of call distributor in widespread use differs from the first in that it interrogates the caller in order to reduce the amount of operator time required to service a call and thereby reduce peak loads on operators. These distributors answer ringing calls, deliver a prerecorded message to the caller, and then record the caller's response to this message. The simplest systems merely ask the caller to leave a message; more complex systems engage in a simulated conversation with a caller. A series of prerecorded messages is delivered and the caller's response to each question recorded in turn. Such distributors may be programmed to service a limited range of caller requests. For instance, a distributor of this type may be programmed to request and record the information involved in placing a sales order. After the caller responses are recorded the distributor disconnects the line in order to free it for another incoming call, and the recorded responses are reviewed at a later time by an operator.
Distributors of this second type may be effective in reducing caller waiting time, but such systems lack the flexibility of a live operator. In the above example, the distributor might adequately service a call if the caller intended to place a sales order. However, if the caller desired to place a sales order and obtain pricing information, or merely to obtain pricing information, the caller's needs would not be met by the distributor.